Trainwreck: 5-14-16

At the gamma ray for some of that "IRL" drafting. After a delay trying to figure out if we had a 24th person (we didn't) and whether or not we should announce our reveal cards (we did), we went drafting! Let's tell this tale with pictures now, shall we?

Just a bit tilted, it's still good! I can salvage this!

Just a little aflame! It's still good!

Please depart through the clearly marked emergency exits.

Madness R/B Musings

Of all the decks I really don't have a grip on, the Madness decks top the list. There are a lot of moving parts and a lot of potential upsides as well. LSV in the latest LR was talking about how there are actually two black/red decks: the obvious aggro deck and the 'fallback' plan of a more controlling, card advantage.

First, let's start with the basics. What does madness get you?

Green/Black Delirium 5-7-16

Alright, draft review time!

(draft review here. Having trouble with the mythic draft site so using a new one that is basic but very functional)

http://www.empirimancy.net/draft/9677988

Pack 1 

Pick 1

  

The Moondrakes are a bit 'meh' for a 7 drop. Thraben Inspector is a happy card that every white deck loves but I went with the higher power level of the Witch. It's transformation into the "drain 1 every turn" makes it a very real win condition.

Pick 2

  

Dead Weight is just solid removal. The Breakneck Rider is also very solid (3 mana for 3/3 with upside) is no joke but it's close enough where I would match my color.

Pick 3

  

According to my 'god why would you ever listen to ME' signals post these are all premium cards at home in any white or blue deck. I take the removal and putter onwards.

I trundle along, taking some good white and black cards. Next interesting pick:

Pick 7

  

I am shocked to see a Vessel this late. I haven't nabbed any green yet, but I do take note. I take the Wicker Witch as she's great for helping enable Delirium, which increasingly seems like the way I'm going.

Pack 2 

  

No help from the rare. I'm still a little torn on white vs. green as my secondary color so I take the Dead Weight.

Pick 2

  

Arguably the pick I was most proud of in the draft. Duskwatch Recruiter is just 100% solid gold premium green. I snatch it instead of a meh white card and start looking to go into green.

The payoff is not long in arriving. Pick 4 Solitary Hunter verified by a shocking amount of green in Pick 5:

   

Followed by a Byway Courier in P2P7, and four really solid value picks to close the draft (2x Might Beyond Reason, Fork in the Road, and a Kessig Dire Swine)

Pack 3 

Very straightforward value drafting. One agonizing choice in pick 3:

  

Oooof. I want them all! I take the Watcher because right now I have zero defenses against fliers of any sort. But I am cautiously optimistic that maybe one of those two will wheel. How many green delirium decks can there be?

Apparently there were two other players, as neither wheeled. Fine.

Ze Deck

My first thought was whether I splash white or not. The Inquisitor Oxen in particular looked tempting: great stabilizing the board presence that turn into 3/5 vigilance attackers? Sounds like what I want to be doing! 

      

And I had some decent tools to help make it happen: 

  

Ultimately I opted against it. I had a good spread of card types and I was pretty happy with my four drops. Straight G/B for me! Again!

Pretty good removal (two dead weights, Sinister Concoction, and a Kindly Stranger) along with a decent smattering of win conditions and solid value cards. How would it play out?

3-0!

This deck 3-0'd the draft! I had some good luck (I faced R/U, R/U, B/U) which were a little more durdly and probably had thinned out the blue cards a little too much for there to be real power. I overcame SOME adversity: I had an opponent flip his Aberrant Researcher on the FIRST try and some out of control Pyre Hounds. But I was able to grind down most games and eventually land my very surprising win condition.

MVP

An astonishing display by a surprise rookie! This card SHOCKINGLY overperformed. I don't think I would want a third, as it's pretty far from great on turn four but dropping a permanent +3/+3 at instant speed is pretty good guys. Everyone is so agog over the Spiteful Motives (+3/+0 first strike) that they're kind of overlooking that +3/+3 is basically the same thing except harder to remove with direct damage. And it's a common. If you can reliably get Delirium going, you can get these late and enjoy the payoff. Pairs great with Crow of Dark Tidings for a hilarious 5/4 flier.

MIA

I've always been an admirer of your work, Ms. Witch; I don't know why you wouldn't appear in even one game for me. I'm your biggest fan!!

Lessons Learned

It really helps being somewhat familiar with a decktype before drafting it! I knew I wanted a good solid diversity of card types: 3-4 sorceries, 3-4 enchantments, 3-4 instants. Early defenses are critical against the aggro decks and then try and line up win conditions.

Sorceries

   

In decreasing order of priority. You really only want one Fork in the Road, you'll run as many Murders as possible, and the others fill out how many sorceries you have.

Enchantments

     
The first three are all hotly contested and should be snap-picks. Crawling Sensation looks like a nice fit for enabling Delirium. Autumnal Gloom is great but doesn't provide early defenses when you may need it most. Think of it as a 5-drop. Weirding Wood's value varies according to how much you're splashing.

Instants

     

As we discussed last time, Grotesque Mutation is a perfect trick, buying both time and trading favorably. Might Beyond Reason is a great finisher (shockingly so) and can be picked up late. Merciless Resolve always feels like the 23rd card to me. Aim High is great in the sideboard. I'm not as sure about Throttle. It feels like by turn 5 you've either stabilized or lost.